No one is above the law — no matter how high you are.
A Georgia sheriff's deputy was arrested Thursday for selling marijuana from his squad car while wearing his badge and uniform, authorities said.
Darrell Mathis, 40, was charged with distributing marijuana and carrying a firearm to further a drug trafficking offence, the FBI announced.
"This defendant used his position as a police officer to openly violate the very laws that he was sworn to uphold," said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.
Mathis allegedly admitted to selling between 10 to 15 pounds of pot per week and would keep large quantities of cannabis out in the open in his apartment, according to a federal criminal complaint.
"This is an embarrassment to the Newton County Sheriff's Office, as well as law enforcement in general," said Newton County Sheriff Ezell Brown.
The FBI learned about Mathis' alleged drug dealing in April.
He sold a pound of pot to an undercover FBI agent on August 8 before they went to another undercover agent who was posing as a drug dealer interested in organizing a drug trafficking scheme, according to the FBI.
During that meeting, which was recorded, Mathis allegedly agreed to transport marijuana or cocaine to North Carolina or Alabama, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
"The FBI considers such allegations of criminal conduct by law enforcement officers to be a priority investigative matter," said special agent Mark F. Giuliano of the FBI Atlanta Field Office.
Mathis, who has been with Newton County since 2008, was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation with which the sheriff's office is cooperating fully, Brown said.
He could face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted of possession of marijuana with intention to distribute. But he could face life in prison if he is convicted of carrying a firearm during and in relation to drug trafficking.
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